DPIs are well established for use in treating respiratory diseases. As an example, there is the DISKUS® device of GlaxoSmithKline. In general, the pharmaceutical composition is formulated as a respirable powder product and the powder product is divided into a plurality of unit doses, each dose contained in its own sealed enclosure, for example in blisters on a dosing strip. When using prior art inhalation devices, an enclosure on a dosing strip in the inhalation device is opened by an opening mechanism of the inhalation device and the powder dose in the enclosure can then be entrained into a patient's respiratory tract by an airflow generated through the device by the patient inhaling at a mouthpiece of the device.
Some sealed enclosures used in DPIs are difficult to fill with a unit dose of the pharmaceutical powder product. Therefore there has been a tendency to make the enclosures bigger than they need to be, and adding a filler to the pure drug powder, such as lactose powder, to bulk out the powder product. The filling of larger enclosures is easier. However, GB0227128.6, filed 20 Nov. 2002, and PCT/EP03/13074 claiming priority therefrom, provides a capsule for holding a powder product which has a mechanism for facilitating the filling of it with the powder product.
The capsule disclosed in GB0227128.6 and PCT/EP03/13074 will generally be small enough to dispense active ingredients without the need to bulk out the powder with a lactose or other filler as much as before or even at all. Due to its small size, the capsule is referred to as a “microcapsule”.
The handling of the capsule, however, can be difficult or fiddly. The present invention facilitates the handling of the capsule, in particular once filled, for example to make it easier to manipulate a number of them when loaded in a DPI.